goblin cartoons

I was 7 years old when Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, died. I still remember hearing it on the news. Elvis’ music hadn’t had much of a direct impact on me, but I knew who he was. Everyone knew who Elvis was. And his death was an utter shock, a moment of frozen time and disbelief. As time has gone by, I haven’t really ever been an Elvis fan, but I still have to acknowledge the cultural impact of his life and death.

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, died yesterday. He was older than Elvis when Elvis died, but not by much. I was never a huge Michael Jackson fan. I never owned Thriller or any of his other albums. Like most people, I made jokes about Jackson’s strange life and behavior. But as someone who grew up in the ’80s, I’d be lying if I said Michael Jackson had no impact on me, and I really did like a number of his songs. Like Elvis, Michael Jackson impacted everyone. And his death is an utter shock. I can barely believe he’s gone.

These two kings, Elvis and Michael, lived strange lives that just got stranger. They were twisted, tortured, abused and abusive, living in baroque bubbles of unreality. Is this what it takes to be a king in pop culture? Maybe. Despite the accusations of terrible, abusive, possibly criminal behavior, I feel sorry for these two men. They led sad, carnival-mirror lives that took them from this world at an early age. At the same time, they touched–and continue to touch–millions of people all over the world in brilliant ways.

Pop culture is a funny thing.

I’m probably going to lose some geek cred by admitting this, but here goes: I’ve missed every chance I’ve ever had to see They Might Be Giants live. So when I found out they were going to be playing in Kansas City in May, I immediately bought tickets. I knew Julie wouldn’t be able to go, due to her current night schedule for work, but since Morgan was graduating from elementary school and the sixth grade, I really wanted to take her to her first real rock concert. Morgan and I were even more excited when we heard the plan for the concert was to all of the songs from their album Flood in the order they appear on the album.

I’m happy to say the band exceeded my expectations. I’d always heard they were a great band to see live, but I was still floored at what great performers they are. John Flansburgh in particular is just amazing, bouncing around the stage and playing to the audience with incredible energy. They opened with a batch of different songs, then launched into Flood, and finished the night with two short but vibrant encores. John Flansburgh closed the show with one of the best last lines ever: “We’d like to keep playing for you all, but my guitar is fucked up. Good night!”

Morgan declared the show “awesome” and said this was “an awesome graduation present.” High praise indeed from an almost-seventh-grader! Me? As awesome as the show was, what made it really special for me was taking my daughter along. The performance alone made this one of the best shows I’ve ever gone to. Having Morgan with me for her first concert kicked it up to number one.